Nirmala Sitharaman while explaining why HAL didn't get the deal for offset said that the government-run organisation couldn't agree with Dassault on production
Sticking to its strategy of continuing the government on the Rafale deal everyday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded Nirmala Sitharaman's resignation. Sharing a news article, Rahul Gandhi said, " The RM (Rafale Minister) tasked with defending corruption has been caught lying again. The former HAL Chief, T S Raju, has nailed her lie, that HAL didn’t have the capability to build the RAFALE. Her position is untenable & she must resign."
Nirmala Sitharaman while explaining why HAL didn't get the deal for offset said that the government-run organisation couldn't agree with Dassault on production. She said HAL was dropped by UPA government and also accused the former government of not taking due care of IAF needs. This got a prompt rebuttal from ex-Defence Minister AK Antony. However, now Rahul Gandhi has attacked Nirmala Sitharaman armed with words of former HAL chief TS Raju.
TS Raju told HT, "When HAL can build a 25-tonne Sukhoi-30, a fourth-generation fighter jet that forms the mainstay of the air force, from raw material stage, then what are we talking about? We could have definitely done it (licence produced the Rafale jets)".
However, he admitted that HAL produced aircrafts could have cost more initially. But he explained that in the long-run it would have been cheaper. Raju was quoted as saying, " You have to see the life-cycle costs and not the cost per piece of a fighter. Life-cycle costs would have definitely been cheaper. And ultimately it’s about self reliance. There is a learning curve. If the French are making 100 jets in says 100 hours, I will take 200 hours as I am doing it for the first time. I can’t do it in 80 hours. It’s a scientific process".
Now, it remains to be seen how the government counters TS Raju's claims who was the chief of HAL till recently.
Keeping up the heat on the Rafale deal, senior Congress party leaders on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) demanding a report on the alleged ‘irregularities’ in the Rafale fighter jet deal. In reply, the government said a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee or the CAG will not be set up to satisfy the ego of “ill-informed” Congress leaders.
The delegation of senior Congress leaders included Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mukul Wasnik, Anand Sharma, Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Surjewala, Rajeev Shukla and Vivek Tankha. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that all evidence and facts relating to the Rafale deal have been submitted to the CAG and they expect the truth to prevail after the report is made public. “We explained to the CAG how Hindustan Aeronautics Limited was removed from the deal to benefit a private player. We hope the CAG will give its report soon. The CAG has assured us that they are already examining all aspects of the deal. We expect that when the report on the deal comes out in public domain, the real scam will come out and the truth shall prevail,” Surjewala said.
With inputs from agencies
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